Chapter 295 - 161: The Malignant Tumor’s Action

The Power Skeleton glanced down at the Ratman’s head, then over at the Speed Skeleton. The Speed Skeleton shrugged, as if to say, ’I didn’t want to kill him, but he just came asking for it.’

"Danita, these Skeletons... they can’t all be at this level, can they?" Beniel asked, finding it hard to get the words out.

"What do you think? You think I’d blow my whistle for just anything?" Danita shot Beniel a sideways glance and said sullenly.

’Damn it all, these Skeletons are too bizarre. It’s not a matter of whether they’re strong or not, it’s how fast they’re growing. He had watched them go from complete weaklings to their current state—you could even say he’d single-handedly helped them grow.’

’So... I’ve unintentionally become a Trial Stone for these Skeletons?’

Danita suddenly felt a wave of frustration. ’If I’d known this would happen, I should have just gathered all my strength and killed them on the spot back when they were weak.’

’I really didn’t expect things to get to this point.’

Danita began to have his doubts. ’The 10-man squad that came as reinforcements—oh, it’s a 9-man squad now—plus myself... can we really take down those five Skeletons? Or will we just end up helping them grow even stronger?’

’If we can’t kill these Skeletons quickly, it would be better to just cut our losses and run.’

Danita weighed his options. If things went south, he planned to be the first one to flee. ’The reinforcements I summoned with the whistle will be perfect to cover my retreat.’

At this point, there was no other choice but to fight. Beniel had his team members get ready, brandished the large club in his hand, and was the first to charge toward the Undead.

...

Sunrises gave way to sunsets. In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.

It was as if the Undead and the Demonized Creatures of the Underworld had reached some kind of agreement. The Undead would not charge out of the passage to attack Komeilan City, and the Demonized Creatures would not search for the source of the Undead and storm the surface. An inexplicable balance had formed.

Every day, a considerable number of Demonized Creatures would leave Komeilan City to hunt. Some were lost in the passage forever, their bodies vanishing without a trace, while others returned to the city, having grown stronger.

No one asked about the Demonized Creatures who died in failure. If anyone did, the answer was always that their skills were lacking. They weren’t good enough, so who was to blame for their deaths but themselves? On the other hand, those who returned alive were idolized, attracting even more Demonized Creatures to Komeilan City.

White Hair Pulan felt that life was getting better and better. His city had originally been just a border town. While not completely ignored, it certainly wasn’t a famous Underground City. But because of the Undead, it was now overflowing with people. There was no more room in the city itself; many were pitching tents outside the walls or simply sleeping on the ground.

However, even though the city was prospering, White Hair Pulan remained wary of the Undead. He was the City Lord, after all, and with the City Defense Army at his command, he had access to a great deal of information that others didn’t.

The Undead were getting stronger.

This was obviously not good news, but it was the truth. While the Demonized Creatures were hunting the Undead, the Undead were also using the Demonized Creatures to hone their own strength.

If this continued, the Undead might actually attack the city one day.

No one knew just how many Undead were in the passage. Every time someone went in, their numbers seemed unchanged. A batch would be killed, only for a new one to appear. If that enormous horde of Undead were to truly charge out of the passage, it was anyone’s guess whether Komeilan City could withstand the assault.

White Hair Pulan didn’t want to just sit around and wait to die. He had to prepare an escape route for himself.

His so-called escape route was a plan he was secretly mulling over: to attack other Underground Cities. ’That way, even if Komeilan City falls, it won’t matter to me. Worst case, I’ll just find another city to be the City Lord of.’

That’s right. He had no intention of completely clearing the Undead out of the passage. Instead, he was plotting to go after his own kind. The Undead in the passage were actually very useful to him, attracting huge droves of Demonized Creatures to Komeilan City. Not only was this a massive boon for the city, but some of the newcomers would inevitably stay and become permanent residents.

And if he did decide to eliminate the Undead—setting aside the question of whether he even had the ability to do so—what would be the benefit? Once the Undead were gone, Komeilan City would lose its appeal. What other Demonized Creatures would bother coming?

Thus, danger and opportunity always went hand in hand. As long as the Undead didn’t attack the city, he didn’t care. In fact, he felt the current situation was excellent—everyone was "coexisting peacefully."

Li Ziyu also felt the current situation was excellent. He loved this mode of "peaceful coexistence." Although he had never been to the Underworld, never set foot in Komeilan City, never met White Hair Pulan, and certainly didn’t know what Pulan was gaining from the Undead, he knew exactly what *he* was gaining: the bones of Demonized Creatures!

A massive quantity of bones from Demonized Beasts and Demonized Creatures was being sent up from the Underworld in a continuous stream. Even though he had lost quite a few Skeleton Undead, it was definitely worth it. With the bones he had on hand, he could now just about form an entire Alien Undead Corps.

As for why he hadn’t considered attacking the Underground City, Li Ziyu simply felt there was no need. Why had he come here and sought out an Underground City in the first place? It was to obtain the bones of Demonized Creatures so he could summon more Alien Undead. That was his true goal.

To attack the city, he had no siege equipment. The only method he could think of was to overwhelm them with Skeleton Undead, literally piling them on until the city’s defenses crumbled. But how many Undead would that consume? Defending a city was far easier than attacking one. Even if he managed to breach the Underground City, he would then face street-to-street fighting, which would still be a struggle. The Undead would continue to suffer losses, and in the end, it was an open question just how much he would actually gain.